White King Volume I: Mark of the Angles
by Seig Terajima
Summary: The Destiny Islands have been quiet for years, nothing extraordinary has ever come to pass on their shores. But when a mysterious boy is found, questions arise about his past. And what clue does the door in the Secret Place hold for him?


Just the usual disclaimer here. I don't own Kingdom Hearts and Square, and they don't own me. All of those ones from Final Fantasy and KH are © their respective owners. The shiny, brank-spankin' new ones are © to me, Seig.  
  
Thanks, and enjoy.  
  
White King  
Volume I: Mark of the Angles  
  
The boy stumbled through the darkness, determined to find something, but as the light faded, his mind waned. What was he looking for again? Was he looking for anything at all? If he could just hold on just a bit longer, then, he could find it, he could be safe. Safe from whatever was chasing him. What was chasing him again? He couldn't remember.

Was that it? Was that crudely created wooden door it? He couldn't be sure. Well, there was only one way to find out. With the last of his strength, he pushed open the door, and feel over, out cold.  
  
"Who do you think it is?"  
  
"Maybe it's a new kid, ya?"  
  
The boy could hear voices, but they weren't voices he recognized.  
  
"I dunno guys, new people aren't very common. Besides, if he was, where'd he come from, and what's he doing here?" That voice was definitely female, light and bubbly. Colors slowly found their way in to his vision, and he blinked.  
  
"Hey! He commin' around!" The voice said, accented strangely. A head appeared in front of his vision. The boy's neck hurt for some reason, and a sharp pain was stabbing at his right side.  
  
"Hey kid...are you okay?" The feminine voice asked. As colors became focused, the boy found himself staring at the face of a girl with large, green eyes, and short brown hair. He let out a slow groan, and tried to sit up, only to fall back down from the pain.  
  
"Jeez, look at his side!" One voice exclaimed, followed by a gasp from the other boy, and a shriek from the girl.  
  
"My god, we have to get him help!" The girl cried.  
  
'I'll go find Riku and Sora, they can help!" One voice said, and feet pounded as the boy ran from the dark...wherever they were. As the now-all-too- familiar darkness came on him again, he calmly wondered..._Who're Sora and Riku?  
_  
_"Get out of my way, old man."  
_  
_"You won't harm him!"_  
  
"_You silly old fool. Do you really think you can stop me?"_  
  
_"I can try! Fireg-AGH!"  
_  
Sounds of insane laughter awoke the boy from his horrible dream. Someone had died...but who? He couldn't remember.  
  
Wherever he was the first time he woke up, he certainly wasn't anymore. Instead or hard earth and a dark sky, he found himself in a clean, white bed, light pouring from an open window. It looked like someone's room.  
  
"Do you think he's going to be alright?" Oh great, voices again.  
  
"Who knows? Hopefully Selphie did a good job with the bandages."  
  
"What's that on his shoulder?"  
  
"Looks like a tattoo. What's it of, though?"  
  
"I dunno. Why don't you go downstairs with the others, and I'll wait for him to wake up. Maybe he's got some answers." The boy let out a slow groan.  
  
"Well, looks like someone finally decided to get up." A voice said from the corner, and the boy turned his head, despite the dull pain in his neck, to where a boy was standing. He appeared not older than the boy lying in bed, maybe 15, with incredibly messy brown hair, and black clothes. He grinned good-naturally at the boy, and held out a hand.  
  
"The name's Sora. Pleased to meetcha." He pronounced. The boy hesitated, and then took the brown-haired boys hand.  
  
"Hey, I'm," He cut himself off. Who was he again? He couldn't remember. A small voice came to the back of his head, and he listened to it for a second. Sora looked at him oddly. "Seig." The boy concluded. "My names Seig." Sora appeared relieved.  
  
"Well, it's nice to see you can remember your name." He turned to leave, and called over his shoulder. "I'll send someone up with food. You're lucky Wakka and the guys found you when they did. Otherwise, you might not have lived through that wound you got there."  
  
Seig (if it really WAS his name) sat up, and winced as the pain form his side lanced through his flesh. Falling back down again, he sighed irritably. Well, wherever he was, he was stuck there. Remembering the conversation between Sora and some girl, he looked at his bare shoulders. On his left side, there WAS a tattoo. It looked like some kind of weird cross with the bottom bearing split ends. Seig closed his eyes, trying desperately to remember who he was, and where he came from.  
  
Footsteps shook him out of his reverie, and he tilted his head to see who was coming.  
  
"Sora said you might be hungry, so I brought you some food." A girl said, obviously not the one who he had first seen. She had shoulder length, vibrant red hair. Seig smiled weakly.  
  
"Thanks." He mumbled. She looked down at him, in his bandaged side, lying in Sora's bed.  
  
"Do you need some help sitting up?" She asked, concerned. He nodded weakly, and she helped him, propping his back against the backboard. It was at that moment that Seig realized he wasn't wearing any pants.  
  
"Um...you wouldn't happen to know where all of my...uh...clothes are, would you?" He asked, and the girl laughed.  
  
"They're over there, on the chair," she said, pointing to the chair at a desk. "Now, eat up, you must be hungry. Then, once you're done, I'll get the others and you can tell us all how you got here." Seig nearly chocked on the piece of bread he was devouring. He looked up at her, blanching.  
  
"That might be kinda hard..." He mumbled, looking down. "You see, I can't really remember what how I got here, or where I came from." I gave her a sheepish grin. "I'm lucky I could remember my own name, actually."  
  
The red-haired girl looked at him for a minute, and then smiled in pity.  
  
"Well, just get some rest then, and try to remember." She, also, turned to leave him, and stopped.  
  
"By the way, my name's Kairi." She said. Seig smiled.  
  
"Tis a pleasure to meetcha miss Kairi. I'm Seig...I think." He said, adding the last part, thinking hard. She smiled, and left.  
  
"You can't remember anything at all?" Sora asked later that day, for the umpteenth time. Seig shook his head.  
  
"Maybe he's from another world." A silver-haired boy suggested. Seig later learned his name was Riku. Seig just shrugged.  
  
"I guess so. I mean, I know I've definitely never seen a place like this one before." Seig said, staring out the window, at the beach and shimmering, crystalline waters. He thought back to his first day here, and his dream.  
  
"Well, I do remember something, but I'm not sure what it means, or if it's even real." He started. "The first night I was here, before I found myself in his bed, I had this dream. It was only voices, but someone was trying to protect someone, maybe me. He was killed. I know it's not much, but that's all I know." He finished, still staring at the waters. The trio exchanged looks.  
  
Later that evening, when Sora's mother arrived home, and the three told the story, she immediately phoned the island doctor, and had Seig examine. The doctor, a tired-looking old man, said that the slash in Seig's side was made by something sharp, and if it had gone any deeper, it would have killed him. This troubled Seig a lot, but the doctor said that he should be fine in a few days.  
  
A 'few days' turned out to be a lot more time than it sounded like. At least, to Seig, it did. It was only two, but to him, it felt like it was an eternity times ten. Since the island kids were on summer vacation, at least one was always hanging out with him, playing board games or something. The three that stayed with him most were Sora, Riku and Kairi. Sora most of all, but because it was his room, and his bed, as he so often pointed out. Eventually, Seig was well enough to stand up on his own, and walk around Sora's room. The first thing he did was look in Sora's mirror, and find out what he looked like. He had a tangle of dark blonde hair hanging close to his shoulders, and, when he looked close enough, he found he had violet eyes. Slightly pale skin stretched over taunt muscles on his bare, bandaged chest and arms. He looked again at the odd, white tattoo. _You'd think I'd at least remember something about that._ He thought darkly, and went to put his clothes on. He soon discovered that they looked significantly different than the clothes the other kids wore, but this didn't surprise him. He wasn't from around here, after all. He wore a simple white muscle-shirt, black pants with multiple pockets, and a black and white short-sleeved jacked. Slowly, he started roaming around the island, with the trio showing him around. Apparently, he was on the second island, where most of the homes were, and on the third island was the city and industries. The first island, where he was found, was for the kids only, and where they spent most of their times. On the third day of just wandering around the beautiful island, Seig looked over at the first island in the distance.  
  
"Hey, why don't we go over there?" He asked. Sora grinned.  
  
"All right, I'll race you to the boats." Riku snorted.  
  
"You're on. You gonna race, Seig?" He asked. Seig shrugged.  
  
"Why not?" He replied lightly, and Kairi stamped her foot.  
  
"Why not? You were incapacitated for 3 days, that's why. You don't even know if you're fully healed!" Seig seemed to think about this for a moment, and then shrugged; realizing that all three days of confinement to a room and the bathroom did was make him eager for some activity.  
  
"Ok, if I die, then I know I'm not fully healed." He said simply, and assumed the racing position with Riku and Sora, who were snickering loudly. Kairi gave an audible sigh, muttered something like 'men', and shouted.  
  
"Ready! Set! GO!"  
  
It turned out that Seig really was healed pretty well, because as soon as he started running, he pulled ahead of both Riku and Sora, sped down the hill and flopped on the rough wooden deck, catching his breath.  
  
"I puff never knew cough I could run wheeze like that before!" He exclaimed, through gasps for air. Riku could only shake his head in utter amazement, and Sora groaned.  
  
"Man, you were crippled, too!" He exclaimed, just as Kairi was catching up.  
  
"That was amazing!" She said, jogging up to the three. Seig nodded, standing up.  
  
It took no time what-so-ever to reach the island, but to Seig it seemed longer. He was lost deep in thought, about the race, and how he never knew he could run that fast. There was so much he couldn't remember, so many questions unanswered in his mind, so many things he needed to know, like who he was, where did he come from, what was that tattoo for, and how did he get here? Seig hit his forehead in frustration, as if trying to knock the memories back in to his head. It didn't work too well.  
  
"Don't hurt yourself there, Seig." Riku said, rowing and looking at Seig, amused at his antics. Seig pulled a sheepish grin, and stared out at the nearing island.  
  
The kid's island turned out to be even more entrancingly beautiful than the other one. As they tied the small rowboat to the dock, Seig cast his eyes in awe at his surroundings. A large tree house was off to the right, connected with what looked like half of a pirate ship by a bridge. To the right of the gigantic tree that supported the houses, a beautiful waterfall fell gently in to a pool. A few shacks stood off a ways, and a great wooden bridge connected the main island to a miniature plateau, where a few palm trees stood, and an off looking tree with some kind of fruit on it. Seig squinted hard at the tree, and blinked a few times. _Is that fruit... star shaped??_ He thought to himself, and grinned. He was going to really, REALLY enjoy is time here.  
  
"Hey! Sora! Riku! Ova here!" An accented voice shouted from the tree house. Seig recognized it as one of the three he had heard when he first woke up. Sora grinned from ear to ear and shouted back.  
  
"Hey Wakka! What's goin' on?"  
  
"Nuttin' much, lil brudda! C'mon up!"  
  
So, Seig found himself scaling the wooden ladder to the tree house along with Sora, Riku and Kairi.  
  
"'Ey, Seig man!" Wakka called from the bench, playing cards with Selphie and Tidus. "Good to see you feelin' alright. You took one big bang on you side, ya?" He slammed his cards on the table. "Royal flush, lil bro. Pay up!" He declared, causing groans from the other two. Riku laughed, and plopped down on a bean bag chair in the shade. Sora just sat on the wooden floor with Kairi.  
  
"Take a seat, dude. Relax, and chill for a while." Tidus called, leaning back in his chair. Seig grabbed a chair, and propped it against the wooden walls of the tree house.  
  
"Man, this sucks that it's our last day of summer break." Sora said gloomily. Everyone mumbled in reply, except for Seig.  
  
"Summer...break?" He asked, tentatively. Everyone stared at him like he was crazy.  
  
"What? Is there an extra head growing off of my shoulder or something?" He asked.  
  
"Summer break is your break from school. You...do remember school, don't you?" Kairi asked. Seig thought for a minute. The word did seem familiar...  
  
"Um...yeah, I think I remember school. Or...something like it." He said slowly. Wakka dismissed it with a hand gesture.  
  
"You musta been home-schooled man. Don't worry 'bout it too much. It'll come back to you eventually, ya?" He added, optimistically. Seig nodded, but he wasn't so sure. Everything before he got here was so hazy.  
  
"So," Sora asked, clearly trying to change the subject of Seig's terrible memory. "Where's Yuna and the others?" Wakka shrugged.  
  
"They must be at that new mall they put in a few weeks ago. It's where they always are." Selphie said, and Tidus and Wakka snorted.  
  
"And you aren't always there?" Tidus asked, dodging a handful of playing cards, laughing.  
  
"Hey, Sora." Riku said suddenly, standing up. "Let's teach Seig to fight."  
  
Sora seemed to approve of this idea greatly, and jumped up.  
  
"C'mon, we're gonna teach you to sword fight." Seig gave a half-hearted shrug, and stood up from his comfortable position. While he didn't want to get up, he was rather interested in sword fighting.  
  
Down on the beach, Seig was handed a wooden sword, and was faced against Sora.  
  
"Alright, now I'm gonna go easy, just so you get the basics." He said. Seig grasped his light, wooden sword in one hand, braced his feet, and nodded firmly. Sora started slowly towards him, sword grasped in both hands. When he was close enough, he lunged out, cutting to Seig's left.  
  
But, to Sora's obvious surprise, and everyone else's, Seig ducked under his swing, and slashed hard at Sora's unprotected waist. The effect was explosive, sending Sora reeling to the side. Seig blinked. Had he just do that? _Of great,_ He thought to himself, _something else I never knew I could do._ Sora sat up, rubbing his waist.  
  
"Oww man." He exclaimed, standing up. 'Lucky shot." He mumbled, grabbing his wooden sword and standing in his position again. Seig could tell from the look in his eyes that he meant business. He gulped.  
  
"Let's try that AGAIN!" Sora shouted, charging at Seig at full speed. Seig barely had enough time to raise his sword in defense from Sora's blow, but he stumbled backwards from the shock of it. Sora seized his chance then, swiping at Seig's legs. The blonde-haired boy fell down, landing roughly on his bum. Small chuckles came from the window of the tree house, and a shout from Riku.  
  
"Jeez Sora, give him a break!"  
  
Seig snarled, grabbed his sword and jumped up. He didn't need a break.  
  
"Forget the break," Seig said, raising his sword at ready. "Let's go."  
  
Sora seemed shocked at his resolution, but grinned whole-heartedly, and took his position.  
  
Just as he did, though, Seig came at him, faster than when he was racing earlier. Sora had no time to react.  
  
The kids in the tree house sat in shock and disbelief as Seig rained blows down on a wearing Sora. All the poor, spiky-haired boy could do was defend himself from the onslaught of moves. Kairi gasped.  
  
"Oh my. Just look at Sora! I hope Seig doesn't hurt him..." Riku just rolled on the floor with laughter.  
  
"Oh boy...this is great! Seig is kicking Sora's butt! Remind me never to piss him off!"  
  
Sora was absolutely stunned at Seig. His moves were faster than his own, faster than Riku's even! In an instant, Sora's sword was flipped from his hand, caught by Seig, and both were pointed under his chin, connected to a grinning, panting Seig.  
Cheers rang out from the tree house, soon followed by the clattering of shoes on ladders and wooden planking. The pair of would-be warriors were soon joined by the group.  
  
"Dude, that was totally awesome!"  
  
"Way to go, lil brudda!"  
  
"I still can't believe you beat Sora!"  
  
Seig just grinned sheepishly, and turned to a dejected looking Sora.  
  
Sora looked up to see the handle of his sword being handed to him by Seig, who was bowing in a position of honoring, his head bowed slightly. Grinning at Seig's antics he took the sword, and bowed in return. Both boys looked up, grinning, and exploded in to laughter.  
  
'This is the Secret Place?" Seig asked, looking around at the underground room, hidden under the giant tree. Riku nodded.  
  
"Yep. This is a total secret, and you can't tell any of the adults. Do you swear?" He asked, and Seig placed a hand over his heart.  
  
'I solemnly swear to speak not of this most holy and sacred place, under penalty of death." His mock seriousness made Sora, Riku and Kairi laugh. Selphie, Wakka and Tidus had left to do something else, saying that 'we've seen it too many times'. Seig took another look around the dim hole in the ground. Crude carvings of child's drawing covered the various rocks, but something caught his eye.  
  
"What's that?" He asked, pointing to something on the other side. Sora looked at the wooden door, and shrugged like it was nothing.  
  
'That old thing? We have no idea. It won't open, so we figured it was just nothing."  
  
Seig didn't exactly consider a mysterious door in a secret, underground place nothing, but he shrugged like the others, and walked up the slope to the exit, covered by leaves and vines.  
  
Seig lay awake in Sora's bed, staring at the wooden ceiling. Sora's snoring drowned out any other sound in the house, and Seig strongly considered chucking the alarm clock at the boy sleeping on the floor in the sleeping bag. So much has happened today. I_ can run, I can fight, and all in all, I can do some pretty cool stuff... _Seig mused to himself as he slowly drifted off in to sleep.  
  
_"I think it's time you learned to fight, Seig."  
  
"But why, Uncle Ishan?"  
  
"Because, child, you are special, and for that reason, you have to learn to defend yourself. Someday you might need to."  
  
"I don't understand, why am I so special?"  
  
"Someday, I'll tell you. It's too much of a burden for you now."  
  
"But I don't want to wait forever. For know, it is enough to know that-Seig!"   
  
_ "Seig!"  
  
Seig awoke with a start, a hand roughly shaking him.  
  
"Dude, get up! We have school today!" Sora said, already dressed. Seig groaned, and rolled out of bed.  
  
And so, Seig found himself walking down the cobbled streets of the Destiny Islands, half awake. If school meant feeling this terrible every morning, he wasn't going to like it one bit.  
  
"School's alright, don't worry about that." Sora was saying. "Everyone you know is in one of the two classes. I think my mom called about it yesterday, so you're in my class." Seig heard him, but wasn't really paying attention. His mind was back on his dream. This time, he had seen someone, very blurry, but there none-the-less. He was the one who taught Seig to fight like he did, and he had said something about Seig being special...could it have anything to do with that tattoo of his? He rubbed his left shoulder almost subconsciously.  
  
The school turned out to be bigger than Seig expected, especially for an island. Classroom doors lined the brightly lit halls, moving past as Seig and Sora tried desperately to find their class, Kairi and Riku had already went the other way to theirs.  
  
"Ah, finally!" Sora proclaimed triumphantly, as if he had just completed a lifelong quest for the Holy Grail. With a slight air of gusto, he thrust open the door.  
  
"You're late." Came a cool, feminine voice from the front of the class. Sora looked at the blonde, curvy teacher, and blushed.  
  
"We...ah...couldn't find the class." He mumbled, and some of the kids who heard him laughed. The teacher sniffed disapprovingly, and looked down at a clipboard under her arm.  
  
"Very well. Which one of you is Sora Takenouchi?" She asked, and Sora raised his hand timidly.  
  
"I-I am, ma'am." He said. The teacher pointed to a seat in the third row, between Tidus and some blonde haired girl in a yellow bikini Seig didn't recognize.  
  
"You will sit there." She instructed, and looked down at the list of names again. "And you must be the new boy...Seig, is it? You will sit there." She pointed to the far left corner, in the fourth row. Seig hurriedly took his place, next to a rather attractive girl with long, auburn hair, who waved at him cheerily. Seig blushed, and waved back. As he took his seat, the blonde girl leaned forward in her seat, and whispered to Sora.  
  
"Hey, you're Sora, right? Aren't you that boy who Kairi has a huge crush on?" She asked. Sora blushed furiously, and said he didn't know anything about that. The girl sat back in her seat, and looked at the brown- haired girl.  
  
"Kairi asked me earlier to ask him that. She said 'he has to get it through is think skull sometime.'" Both girls stifled giggles, and Seig looked at Sora, who apparently was quite ignorant to the conversation at his expense. The girl with the sweater turned to Seig, and she smiled at him.  
  
"You're the new boy, right?" She asked. Seig nodded dumbly, transfixed by her bright, blue eyes. "Well, I'm Cassie." She said, and pointed to the girl behind her. "And that's Rikku." Rikku beamed promptly. Seig cleared his throat.  
  
"I'm Seig." He said, and then sighed. "But you already know that. I mean," He jerked his thumb in the direction of the teacher. "She practically blared it across the room." Cassie giggled again, and Seig grinned, glad that he was warming up to her so fast. _Alright, maybe school isn't going to be so bad after all.  
_  
Their teacher, Miss Quistis Trepe, was their English teacher, and their homeroom teacher. It turned out that she was indeed quite nice, but very, very strict in the classroom. So, the entire morning was spent copying down the class rules, curriculum, making faces at the teacher behind her back, and making the girls giggle.  
  
Finally, much to the relief of the class, the lunch bell rang, and Seig hurriedly found Sora, and left for lunch.  
  
After grabbing their trays, Seig, Sora, Riku and Kairi found a table, and sat down to compare notes on their new teachers.  
  
'Mr. Highwind is a pretty good teacher." Kairi said, but Riku cut in. "Yeah, especially when he broke the chalk. He cursed up a storm." And the two laughed at the memory, while Seig and Sora chuckled appreciatively at the thought of a teacher swearing profusely.  
  
"Hey guys!" A cheery voice proclaimed from behind the table, and they all turned their heads to see Rikku, Cassie and some girl with different colored eyes. Without another announcement, Rikku plopped down next to Sora, the weird-eyed girl next to her, and Cassie, oddly enough, next to Seig, who blushed.  
  
"I hope that all the school days aren't as boring as this one is." Rikku said, and Sora and Riku gave a hearty 'hear, hear'. Cassie interjected.  
  
"Oh, I don't know. I thought Seig's imitation of Miss Trepe was pretty entertaining." She said, beaming at Seig, who blushed even deeper. Sora and Rikku laughed at it, while Riku and Kairi exchanged amused glances. Seig, regaining his composure, made a falsely stern look at the two.  
  
"One more word out of you two, and it will be detention for a week, do you hear me?" He asked in a mock Miss Trepe voice, and the table erupted in laughter.  
  
"Yes, very amusing." A voice drawled from behind them, and the turned to see a blonde boy standing behind them, his arms crossed. A weird tattoo was painted on his left cheek. Behind him, another blonde haired boy stood, a scar crossing above his nose, and a brown-haired boy with a cowboy hat.  
  
"Shove off, Zell." Cassie said casually. The boy smirked.  
  
"But why? It's so interesting over here." He said, and looked down at Seig.  
  
"You. You're...Seig right?" He asked, looking at Seig as if he was nothing. Seig shrugged casually.  
  
"What's it to you?" He asked.  
  
Zell was taken aback, but he quickly regained his composure.  
  
"Look at this, boys," He said, turning to his cronies. "We got ourselves a smartguy." He said, and grabbed Seig by the collar of his jacket, and hoisted him up.  
  
"Why don't you say something smart...smartguy?" He asked, spitting malice. Sora, Riku and Cassie all leapt to their feet, but Seig waved them off.  
  
"Relax guys, I've got this." He said casually, still staring in to Zell with his violet eyes. Zell laughed out loud.  
  
"HE'S got this? Hah, don't make me laugh...but he is right. Stay out of this, babe. But, if you want some so badly, I'll give you some later." He said, eyeing Cassie's chest, and licking his lips, causing his two buddies to laugh loudly. Cassie shrank back down, her eyes brimming with tears. Seig, snarled, and Zell turned his attention back to him.  
  
"Well...go on. Say something smart." He said. Seig just smiled.  
  
"How about I say something foreign and exotic, like adios." With that, he fell out of his jacket, and barreled in to Zell full force. The momentum from the tackle drove both boys back in to a trash can, knocking it over. As both boys rolled away from the mess, Seig pinned a struggling Zell to the ground.  
  
The sudden burst of violent movement attracted a crowd of kids, all chanting for a fight. _Well, if they want a fight...it's what they'll get._ Seig thought bitterly, but just as he was going to drive his fist in to Zell's jaw, the bell rang, snapping him out of his bloodlust. Thinking better of it, he stood up, grabbing his jacket. Dusting it off, he walked out the door, followed by a group of stunned friends, and dejected spectators.  
  
Sora, Riku and Kairi walked back to their houses in utter silence. The anger was still practically visible in the humid air, and nobody really wanted to bring the topic up. Finally, Kairi summed up enough courage to do what the other two wouldn't.  
  
"Um...Seig?" She asked, hesitantly. Seig cut her off before she could even get the words out.  
  
"I don't want to talk about it." He said shortly, but then turned to them.  
  
"It's just...people like him make me so MAD!" he said, slamming his fist in to a nearby tree. Riku, who thought it was brilliant to begin with, just shrugged.  
  
"Zell's a jerk, don't worry about it. You can take him any day." He said, "I mean, remember how you beat Sora?" He added, grinning as he narrowly avoided a punch from Sora. Seig sighed heavily.  
  
"I know...I know. But I swear, if he ever does anything to anyone again...his ass is mine." He turned to them, and Riku nodded in approval, along with Sora, and, reluctantly, Kairi. Seig grinned; the fact that he had the backing from his friends lightened his spirits considerably.  
  
"Oh, Seig!" Sora's mother, Mrs. Takenouchi, exclaimed, seeing the two boys enter. "I just got off the phone with the mayor. You know that house across the street that people rent out sometimes?" Sora knew the one she was talking about, but Seig didn't. "Well, I explained that you need a place of your own, and, because of the special circumstances, he agreed to let you use it temporarily."  
  
Sora let out a cheer almost as big as Seig's both of them dancing around the room, singing two different chants.  
  
"I get my own place! I get my own place!"  
  
'I get my room back! I get my room back!"  
  
Seig lay down in his new bed, extraordinarily pleased with himself. After finding the house fully stocked for vacationers to the second island, he immediately went to work making himself at home. After making a significant mess in the kitchen, taking a long shower and watching TV for three hours, Seig was sure that he would like it there. Still rather pepped from the thrill of his own house, and the fight from hours earlier, he left his new pad for a walk around the island to work out some energy.  
  
Taking a little stroll around the island had become his new favorite pastime since he had arrived. He loved the sound of the waves crashing against the beach, the rustles of the palm trees, and the view of the horizon. As he slowly approached the docks, he saw Sora and Kairi sitting on the edge. Just as he was about to call to them, a hand suddenly wrenched him from his position, and in to a nearby bush. Whirling to wind his assailant, he only found Cassie, still dressed in her usual sweater and red skirt, pressing a finger to her lips. Arching an eyebrow, Seig moved over to look at what Cassie was looking at. All that was there was Kairi and Sora. Completely puzzled by this, Cassie made an attempt to explain in hand signals. Pointing to the two, she then made two hands talking, then banging against each other. Seig shrugged, and Cassie slapped her head against her forehead. She only pointed to the two, and motioned for him to wait. The two waited, side-by-side, one obviously knowing what she was waiting for, the other entirely confused. The two on the dock talked for a bit, and then Sora did something completely unexpected, he leaned over and kissed Kairi. All of the sudden completely understanding Cassie's hand puppet demonstration, Seig nearly laughed out loud. As Sora and Kairi moved away, the two breathed easy again, and Seig grinned.  
  
"I guess Rikku did the job pretty well, huh?" The auburn-haired girl  
nodded in agreement, and she started walking down the path, Seig in  
tow.  
  
"I think it's cute that those two are finally together." She said  
dreamily, sighing deeply. "They make such a cute couple." Seig made a  
gagging noise, and she punched him lightly on the arm.  
  
"Well, I haven't been here long enough to know those two, but they do seem to get along right." He commented lightly. The two walked along the path, silently agreeing with each other.  
  
"You know what this means though, don't you?" She asked, and Seig  
shrugged.  
  
"It means that Rikku now has to find two other people to pair up." She said, laughing out loud. Seig let out a chuckle.  
  
"She's gonna probably try to set me up again. She's been trying to do that for years now. She's tried every boy on the island. Even Zell." She said with a small shudder. "So now, she's out of luck. Nobody left."  
  
_Except me._ Seig thought, and nearly said it out loud, but held his tongue. That would be a dumb thing to say. Cassie seemed to be thinking somewhere along the same lines.  
  
"I don't think she'd try to set you up with someone. She doesn't know you well enough. You've only been in school for a day."  
  
Apparently, they had arrived at Cassie's house, because at that moment she started walking up the front steps. Before turning the handle, she turned to him, as if she had just thought of something.  
  
"But if she were to set me up with you, I really wouldn't mind." And with that, she left Seig in the street. Whistling a tuneless song to himself, he walked back to his new house, kicked off his shoes with a certain air of happiness, and climbed in to bed; sure he would sleep good that night.  
Closing his eyes contentedly, he fell in to a deep, dreamless sleep  
for once.  
  
His newly acquired alarm clock awoke him, early in the morning on his third day of school. Moaning, he hit the snooze button, but five minutes later, he was forced to get up. For the sake of not wanting to be TOO late, he grabbed his jacket, threw on his shoes, and grabbed a Pop-tart (his new favorite food). Rushing out the door, he saw Sora exiting his house in the same fashion, a Pop-tart shoved in his mouth too. He nodded in acknowledgement, and they both sprinted headlong for the school.  
  
Sora and Seig both slid in to their seats, just as the bell rang. Both breathed a sigh of relief. Cassie gave a smile and wave at their arrival. Seig gave a small wave in her direction, and took out his book to prepare for another morning of nonstop work.  
  
That day was the first day of gym, and Seig stood in shock at the size of their gym teacher. When he went to announce his name, paused, and then just said:  
  
"Just call me Barret." He stared down at the children in his gigantic shadow.  
  
Seig gaped in disbelief at his gym teacher, who seemed not to notice the odd gapes he was receiving form his students. Clapping his hands together, one metal, one real he started barking orders.  
  
"Right! So, let's start running laps for the first class!" The class groaned, and Seig removed his jacket, tossing it on the ground. He started walking up to the track with Riku and Sora, but someone else joined the three.  
  
"Hello Seig. We meet again." A sleek voice said, and Seig growled.  
  
"Piss off Zell." He said coldly, and Zell put on a face of mock innocence.  
  
"Relax there, buddy. I just want to make a wager. That's all." He said, grinning. Seig eyed him suspiciously.  
  
"What kind of wager?" He asked. Zell could tell he took the bait.  
  
"Just a bet on who can win a race, that's all. You and me, one lap. It'll be fun." He said, falsely cheery. Riku and Sora almost fell over laughing, but Zell didn't seem to notice.  
  
"What'll I get out of this?" Seig asked, and Zell pretended to think about it. He had gone over this conversation all day in his mind.  
  
"Well...if I win, I get a date with...oh, I don't know...Cassie, maybe?" He suggested. Seig blanched. He would rather have a poisonous snake go out with her, but he wasn't about to admit it.  
  
Zell could see the turmoil going on in Seig's eyes. It was all playing out wonderfully. His hunch had been right. Oh, he loved when that happened.  
  
"Fine." Seig announced. "And if I win?" Zell shrugged.  
  
"Same deal, alright?"  
  
"Fine," Seig spat. "Let's do this."  
  
Sora and Riku retreated to the sidelines, having heard their entire conversation. Rikku approached them, and looked at the two boys taking positions.  
  
"What's going on?" She asked casually, and Sora and Riku just continued to grin.  
  
"Zell made a bet with Seig. If Zell won, he would get a date with Cass." These words brought a look of horror to Rikku's face.  
  
"No way!" She cried. "Cassie would rather die than do that!" Riku interrupted her, still grinning as if the best thing in the world had happened.  
  
"Fat chance he's gonna win, though! Sieg'll kick him to next week!" And with that, both boys collapsed in to laughter, eager to see Seig beat Zell. But Rikku didn't smile, she only walked away, wondering _Just what is Zell playing at?  
_  
Since "Barret" was away, a small crowd of spectators had gathered at the track, eager to see the race, since it made up for the lack of a fight. Seig took his position, Zell next to him, grinning. Kairi took up her usual position as referee, and held her hand at ready, savoring the apprehension.  
  
"On your mark, get set...GO!" She shouted, and the two rivals exploded from the starting line, Seig pulling away with great ease. Zell was stunned. He hadn't planned on THIS. There was no way he could beat him. _All that planning..._  
  
The crowd was cheering for Seig, all chanting his name. By the time Zell had finished his lap, the violet eyed, blonde-haired kid was sitting on the track, obviously waiting for him. Snarling, Zell stalked away without even finishing the race, amidst gales of laughter, vowing revenge on the boy for ruining him.  
  
Seig had to admit that nothing that day could ruin his mood, all too glad about his victory. He hummed a little tune to himself as he walked home, since Riku Sora and Kairi went for ice cream right after school, he was quite content to be by himself, and just relax.  
  
'Hey Seig!" A voice called from behind him, spoiling Seig's alone time. He turned on his heels to see Rikku towards him.  
  
"Oh, hey Rikku." He said, turning away from her and continued walking. She eventually caught up with him, and walked besides him, that cheery smile still plastered on her face.  
  
"That was some pretty sweet running you did today. Sora and Riku kinda told me about the bet you two made." She trailed off, obviously looking for some answer. Seig shrugged lightly, but his insides were twisting. Did she know?  
  
"I did it to beat him. I only agreed to that bet so he would race me." Rikku nodded. That was the expected answer.  
  
"Yeah, I figured." She mumbled but then launched a completely unexpected question.  
  
"Do you have a crush on Cass, Seig?" Seig stopped moving, and looked down at her as if she had mutated.  
  
"Huh?" He asked, blushing furiously. Rikku looked at him unblinkingly.  
  
"Do you, or do you not? It's a simple question." Seig looked out a bit, the wheels turning in his head. Did he really? He had known her for only three days, but he did have a lot of fun with her, and she was really nice.  
  
"I dunno..." He said slowly. Rikku smiled inwardly. Guys always said that.  
  
"Well...she can't stop talking about you...she said that she didn't exactly like your plan of action in the cafeteria, but she was really touched that you stood up for her." She said. Seig was silent for a minute, and Rikku seized this moment to launch her plan.  
  
"Hey, do you want to come to the Sleepy Moogle with me? I told Cassie and Yuna I'd meet them there. So, do you want to?" She asked. Seig didn't require much time to ponder his answer. Leaving his plans of a quiet afternoon alone completely abandoned. Following Rikku to wherever that was...he wondered in quiet amusement _What the hell is a Moogle?  
_  
The Sleepy Moogle turned out to be a small tavern on the edge of the island. An old fashioned sign hung above the door, with a picture of a small animal with a giant ball on its head, and Z's coming form its mouth. Rikku pushed open the door energetically, and peered in the brightly lit room, until she waved at the girls in a corner table. The two sat down at the corner table, Yuna and Cassie on the other side. Yuna gave a small smile, and Cassie looked surprised.  
  
"Oh, Seig! I didn't know you were coming!" She exclaimed, and Seig smiled agreeably.  
  
"Yeah, well, me neither until a few minutes ago. It sure beats staying home alone all day."  
  
A slightly plump woman came to the table, and smiled at the group.  
  
"And what can I get for you?" She asked, taking out a small notepad.  
  
"We already ordered." Yuna said.  
  
"I'll have three fries, one hamburger, some onion rings and a milkshake." Rikku said. Seig looked at her, convinced she couldn't eat that much. The lady looked at him, and he realized it was his turn to order.  
  
"Oh, uh, I'll just have a milkshake." He said, and she made a note, walking away.  
  
"We come here all the time." Rikku said pointedly. And Seig looked around.  
  
"I can see why. This is one of those places you can regularly come to."  
  
"That and my Uncle owns it." Cassie said. Seig leaned back in his chair.  
  
"That must be cool, having family here. You can get free food and stuff." Cassie nodded, and then looked at him strangely.  
  
"Do you remember your family?" She asked. Seig sighed, and sat up.  
  
"I'm not even sure I had a family. I can't remember anything about them. I know I had an uncle, though."  
  
"You can remember your uncle, but not your parents?" Yuna asked, looking at him disbelievingly.  
  
"Well, I had a dream once that had my uncle in it. I think it was one of my memories, but I can't really be sure." Seig explained. Cassie nodded understandingly.  
  
"By the way, Seig," Cassie said suddenly changing the subject, seeing that this one was painful for him. "You were amazing in gym today. Why were you racing Zell anyways?"  
  
Rikku winced, and Seig knew why. She had obviously not told her friend about the bet. Seig shrugged.  
  
"It was just a competition between us, that's all. I'll take any chance I can get to beat him." Rikku stood up suddenly.  
  
"I've got to go to the bathroom." She shot Yuna an odd look, and she stood up too.  
  
"Yeah, me too." She said, and the two walked off. Seig and Cassie shot glances at each other.  
  
"Well, that was...um...weird." Seig exclaimed, and Cassie nodded in agreement.  
  
"But seriously, Seig. What you did in the cafeteria the other day..." _Oh boy,_ thought Seig. _She's gonna ask me why I did it. How can I say that I was defending her?  
_  
"What you did was...really brave." She said, and Seig looked up. "I mean," She said looking away. "Nobody's ever stood up for me like that before. I've been living on this island since I was born, I've know all those kids all my life, but you, you're different. I've never met anyone like you in all of my life. I mean, Sora's nice, Riku's cool, Tidus and Wakka are fun to be around, but you're...oh, I don't know, deeper than they are." She looked up at Seig, who was still looking at her. She blushed. "Oh great, I'm rambling again." She said, and Seig laughed lightly.  
  
"Don't worry about that. I'll still listen." He said. "You're different than everyone else. Selphie's just too cheery, it's kinda scary," Cassie giggled. "Yuna's fine, Rikku's...um...weird, and Kairi, well; she's probably got a shrine of Sora in her closet. You, you're just so much more REAL than they are. You're more...here...what's the term? Down to earth or something? Anyways, you're just someone I can talk to. I can trust you; I can see it in your eyes." He finished, rather surprised that something that deep came from his own mouth. Cassie looked at him.  
  
"Do you...really mean that?" She asked slowly, and Seig nodded vigorously. She looked down at her lap, then at the bathroom door. She turned to Seig with a mischievous look in her eyes.  
  
"Hey, let's leave without them." She said, and Seig, grinned, like it was a joke.  
  
"They'd get pretty angry at us." Cassie shrugged.  
  
"They'd forgive us. C'mon, let's go." She said in a low tone. Seig grinned.  
  
Rikku and Yuna exited the bathroom, neither not entirely surprised to see the other two not there anymore. Rikku smiled, knowing that she was right again, and the plan worked out perfectly. She did a little jig right then and there. She was always happy when she was right.  
  
The two lay on the beach, neither saying a word, staring at the light playing off the waves. Seig was quite content this way, happy with just feeling the sand under his body, Cassie lying next to him.  
  
"Seig?" She asked, and Seig gave a small 'hmm?' "Do you remember anything about your home?"  
  
Seig pondered the question, trying to picture some place that wasn't on an island. He couldn't find anything.  
  
"No, I guess I can't..." He said, feeling extremely stupid.  
  
"Well...doesn't it just seem...odd for you?" She asked.  
  
"What do you mean by that?"  
  
"Doesn't it seem weird to not know where you came from, who you are?"  
  
Seig thought about it for a minute, adjusted his jacket behind his head, and sighed.  
  
"Yeah, it does bother me a lot. I mean, all I know is that my name is Seig. My only clue is this tattoo." Rolling up his left sleeve, he showed her the tattoo. Cassie stared at it for a minute, and traced her finger slowly around the shape. Seig shivered at the light touch from her hand.  
  
"Wow that IS weird." She said, and she let her hand fall. "If I was you, I'd want to know what was going on a soon as possible..." She trailed off. Seig sat up, and ran a hand through his hair.  
  
"I do, I really do. But, I guess that I've come to love this place so much that I don't want to know, kinda. I really don't want to be taken away from all of this...but you're right, I do want to know." He landed on the sand with a soft thump, facing the girl on his left. She smiled a reassuring smile at him.  
  
"Don't worry, you'll find out somehow." Seig smiled.  
  
"I really wish I could believe that as strongly as you. I just don't see how I can. I mean, I'm on an island, with no way of contact to anywhere else." He looked at Cassie, who had pity radiating from her eyes. "And besides...I like where I am right now anyways..." He gave a small smile, and she blushed heavily. They were both silent for a while, then Seig asked something that was on his mind.  
  
"What's Cassie short for, anyways?" He asked. Cassie blushed, and looked hard at him.  
  
"You promise not to laugh?" She asked, and Seig nodded.  
  
"Well, I think my mom was drunk the night she named me, but it's...Cassandra."  
  
Seig snorted. "Why would I laugh at that? I think it's a great name. It suits you."  
  
She blushed again, and shrugged in to the sand. She stared at his face for a while, and Seig blinked.  
  
"What?" He asked, and she just giggled.  
  
"Nothing, I'm just wondering..."  
  
"'Bout what?" He asked innocently.  
  
"...What'll happen when you find out where you're from?" She asked. Seig sighed, and looked down in the sand, tracing circles idly.  
  
"I don't know...but what I do know," He said, placing his hand over hers. "Is that I'm always gonna be right here."  
  
Seig sat alone in the Secret Spot, light already fading from behind the trees. He had already dropped Cassie at home, but before he went home, he had to come here. It was where it all started. He stared intently at the wooden door across from him. It didn't seem right. It didn't make sense...why was there a door in the face of a rock wall? _What are you hiding...?_ Seig thought, crossing the underground spot in one swift motion. The door just appeared ordinary, nothing special about it. _That's what makes it so extraordinary.  
_ Seig ran a hand across its surface slowly, not really expecting anything to happen. But then, right as his hand passed over the middle, something appeared in the wood, like he had just wiped dust off of the door. He had seen that glowing symbol somewhere...it was exactly like the one on his shoulder.  
_This is it...this is the answer._ Seig realized. He had come from behind this door. Thrusting his hand against the symbol, not entirely sure what he was doing, he waited for something to happen. In an instant, Seig felt his entire body being lifted from the Secret Place.  
  
_This darkness...it's familiar.  
_  
Seig could feel he was loosing himself. What was he doing here, running in the darkness...trying to find something? Where had he come from, anyways? He couldn't remember who he was, either.  
  
_"What'll happen when you find out where you're from?"  
_  
Where had that come from? Who had said that?  
  
_"I don't know, but what I do know is...is that I'm always gonna be here."  
_  
In a flash, it was all back. The islands, Sora, Riku...and Cassie.  
  
A light was ahead. Maybe that was what he was looking for. _...Home?_ Then, in another flash, he found himself somewhere he didn't recognize. It seemed oddly familiar, like he had been here before. To his front stood a large brick wall, the white light emitting from it was slowly dying away. He took a look around, and he saw he was in some kind of harbor, boats of all sizes sitting in their docks. _Where am I?  
_  
"Seig? Holy hell! SEIG!" Someone shouted, and Seig turned to see someone running towards him, someone he couldn't identify. It was a girl, black hair spilling out from a ponytail, wild, brown eyes staring at him like he was a ghost.  
  
"Where the HELL have you been?" She asked, grabbing his arm, leading him away to God-knows-where. "Jeez, Merlin is gonna KILL you when I bring you back!"  
  
Seig, being led off by a girl who apparently knew him, not being able to get a word in edgewise from her endless ranting, had a feeling that his little adventure was just beginning.

This was my first ever long-sized fic. Give me some comments/suggestions for the next one. Flames will be used to heat my home.  
  
Coming Soon: White King Book II: Gates Fit For One


End file.
